HTML Unleashed PRE: Creating Widely Accessible Web Pages

Introduction

or the majority of us who haven't experienced
any challenges to their physical or sensory abilities,
it's almost impossible to even imagine
how those who do experience them perceive the world and exchange
information. Admittedly, accessibility considerations are not
what we are accustomed to taking into account for each step we make.
Yet as we enter the virtual realm of the Web, such an attitude might
need readjusting.

It is difficult to overestimate the overall impact of the Web on
human society. Not only is it a new mass medium, but also a
tool capable of making each of us an information provider, not only
an information consumer. The accessibility of this innovative
technology is therefore a matter of ethics, even politics, much more
than that of practicality or commercial profit. With 750
million disabled people worldwide, it is not irrelevant to compare
the web accessibility issue to the principle of equal rights
regardless of race, color, sex, or age.

This understanding led to the launch, in April 1997, of the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI),
a project of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) aimed at improving
web standards from the accessibility viewpoint. The following
is from the official Statement of Support signed by U.S. President
Bill Clinton:

"Given the explosive growth in the use of the World Wide Web for
publishing, electronic commerce, lifelong learning and the delivery of
government services, it is vital that the Web be accessible to
everyone. The Web Accessibility Initiative will develop the tools,
technology, and guidelines to make it possible to display information
in ways that are available to all users."

This chapter will acquaint you with the key
considerations, existing solutions, and perspectives of development in
the area of web accessibility. You'll learn how your web pages can be
made more disabilities-friendly with today's technology and with
minimal or no additional investment. Nearly every aspect of Web
publishing needs to be addressed in this regard, so in this chapter
we'll revisit, with the accessibility goals in mind, much of the
book's material.